Goals from Bethany England and Erin Cuthbert wrapped up the win on home soil for the Blues, in what was a dominant performance at Kingsmeadow.

Speaking after the game, Hayes said: ‘Getting back to winning ways after the draw at the weekend was important. I felt the game needed somebody to do something that was not pretty. For us sometimes we want to walk the ball in the back of the net, we create numerous chances game after game and what it needed was a scrappy finish.’

Hayes brought England on at half-time and the substitute made her mark six minutes into the second half after Cuthbert’s shot from the edge of the box was palmed into the feet of the forward who slotted in her 50th Chelsea goal.

‘Her impact was good,’ Hayes explained.

‘She’s trained well the last few days. It’s important for Beth to build on that, the team need that. This is an important time, we need Beth. We need her to step forward. Like I said, she’s been very good the last few days in training and that’s an important message that you’ve got to perform everyday to compete to get in the team, and she’s in a good head space with that.

‘Maybe it’s difficult when you’ve got so many forwards at a club like Chelsea to get as many starts as you like but if you are coming from the bench then make sure you’re the very best at it, that’s what I say to anybody in that position and that’s what she did tonight. She impacted the game immediately, She looked like herself, her old self in many things, and let’s hope she can build upon it.'

To the delight of Blues fans, Lauren James was named in the matchday squad for the first time since before Christmas. Hayes has warned that our no.19 isn’t ready just yet, however.

‘Lauren needs another at least a few sessions until she’s available.’

It’s another quick turnaround for Hayes’ side as we travel to Aston Villa on Saturday for the fourth-round of the Vitality Women’s FA Cup.

She explains she will continue to rotate her squad as the fixtures are coming thick and fast, saying: ‘Inevitably, players that have played three in seven games, there’s going to be some that might need recovering from that.’